


You - no one else

by TheWeirdDane



Category: Skulduggery Pleasant - Derek Landy
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Fluff, I guess???, sorry for shortness :((
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-09
Updated: 2019-12-09
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:34:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21736906
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheWeirdDane/pseuds/TheWeirdDane
Summary: A little thing for a true dearie of the SP fandom <3 I hope you like it, despite its shortness!
Relationships: Valkyrie Cain/Skulduggery Pleasant
Comments: 4
Kudos: 26
Collections: Skulduggery Pleasant Fic Exchange 2019





	You - no one else

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Lilboppaloola](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lilboppaloola/gifts).



> A little thing for a true dearie of the SP fandom <3 I hope you like it, despite its shortness!

”Down!” Skulduggery Pleasant roared and leaped to the side, just barely avoiding Jordan Silverheart who happened to be their current target. Highly delusional and believing himself a werewolf, Jordan attacked with the ferocity of an animal and the speed of a mortal man, making him fairly dangerous.

As such, Valkyrie Cain took Skulduggery’s advice and ducked. Furthermore, she jumped to her left, pressing herself up against the wall and also avoiding Jordan as he hurled himself through the wooden door.

They had been able to hear him through the wood, but he had reacted faster than them, leaving them surprised and somewhat vulnerable. Now, as he burst through the door, Skulduggery trained his trusty revolver on their target, but Jordan quickly got up from the floor and threw himself at Valkyrie.

Valkyrie, in turn, threw herself to the side, but Jordan managed to get a hold of her leg, and luckily for her, she was wearing the trousers that Ghastly Bespoke had made for her. The man’s blunt fingernails couldn’t penetrate the fabric, and Valkyrie kicked out blindly. Judging from the howl and sickening crack, her foot had connected with his face. More specifically, his nose.

She smirked.

But Jordan Silverheart didn’t give up that easily. He grabbed Valkyrie’s leg again and awkwardly climbed her like a tree, grabbing first her hips, then her waist, and eventually her arms.

“Get _off_ , you _freak_ ,” she snarled and thrashed wildly on the floor. Jordan snarled right back, and his hands went from her arms to her throat while he straddled her chest. Blood dripped from his nose onto her face, making her stomach turn.

“Skulduggery, a little help, maybe?” Valkyrie rasped as the man’s grip tightened. She clawed at his face, and despite having easy access to it, she did little damage. Jordan simply grinned the grin of a madman and leaned down over her, applying more pressure on her throat.

Valkyrie tried turning her head, but the hands forbade it.

“Any time now,” she wheezed, and next second, there was the overwhelming, loud bang of a gunshot. It echoed throughout the house and made her ears ring. Yet somehow, the man didn’t stop his attempt of strangling her.

She heard Skulduggery mumble something under his breath. Her ears were ringing, and her vision was growing fuzzy and black around the edges. Her fingers, however desperate she was to claw the man’s face into rags and pieces, seemed to lose their strength. Her hands fell to the floor with a dull thud. Her head was throbbing, and blood was thundering in her ears.

Then the man was thrown off her, and she gasped loudly and rolled to the side, putting a hand on her throat. She inhaled greedily and coughed, nearly choking on the amount of air that was suddenly available to her.

When she turned around, she saw Skulduggery sit on top of Jordan, beating him to within an inch of his miserable life. Jordan tried valiantly to get a punch in here and there, but Skulduggery had the upper hand in this fight.

“I’ll call for the Cleavers,” she wheezed and got up on shaky legs, reaching for the phone in her pocket.

She didn’t stop Skulduggery from beating Jordan Silverheart. Not even when the man begged for forgiveness and pleaded for mercy. No doubt could his shrill screams be heard over the phone.

She should probably peruse herself for why she let her partner beat someone halfway to death.

But maybe some other day.

The Cleavers came and went, bringing a hard-to-identify Jordan Silverheart with them. He seemed happy to no longer receive the rain of fists that had been Skulduggery.

Justice had been served once again. Or, it would, when Jordan was hopefully found guilty of the grisly murders that had plagued the capital of Ireland.

If it turned out that Jordan _wasn’t_ guilty… well, then they had fucked up, hadn’t they?

But that was a concern for another day. For now, they would have to seek medical treatment. Valkyrie’s throat hurt like crazy, which was understandable, and though Skulduggery claimed to be fine, Valkyrie was adamant that he also saw a doctor.

When the Cleavers arrived, Skulduggery and Valkyrie got a ride to the hospital. Here, they were sent to a private room where a doctor that neither Valkyrie nor Skulduggery had seen before tended to them. She was kind and understanding, and her hands were gentle as they felt around Valkyrie’s throat.

“There will be some bruising, but nothing is broken or injured,” she said and smiled warmly to Valkyrie who smiled back with a light nod.

When the doctor went to examine Skulduggery, he lifted a hand.

“I really am quite fine.”

“Nonetheless, I have to examine you for injuries to either your physical or mental well-being.”

“He’s always had a loose connection in his head,” Valkyrie snickered, and Skulduggery looked at her with utmost contempt and then sighed, sending her into a laughing fit.

With a lot of complaints and grumbling curses in what Valkyrie could only assume to be old Irish, Skulduggery let the doctor examine him, and when she found that nothing was out of the ordinary - except that he was, of course, a living, breathing, and talking skeleton - she sent them a dazzling smile and left the room.

Finally alone, Valkyrie walked to the nearest bed and threw herself on it with a deep sigh. Skulduggery slowly came up to her and sat on the chair beside the bed. Despite having just a skull for a face, she knew he was smiling to her. Fondly, even. It was evident in the way he tilted his head and the way he spoke. She could _hear_ the smile in his voice.

“How are you?” His soft was soft, kind, and fond, but also carried an undertone of worry. Before he let her answer, he continued. “I… apologise for not shooting Silverheart before I did. And I apologise for not hitting the target.”

Valkyrie’s jaw dropped. Was she really hearing Skulduggery Pleasant - arrogant and, to the public eye, thinking he could do no wrong - apologising?

“Do you mind repeating that? I want it on my phone.” But before Valkyrie could fish out her phone, Skulduggery had put a hand on her wrist, and she looked up at him with wide eyes. Her heart was thumping aggressively in her chest. Despite being an actual skeleton hand, his hand had a nice and warm, comfortable temperature as it rested on her skin.

“I mean it, Valkyrie. I am sorry.”

“Damn it, don’t apologise when I can’t record it!” They shared a soft, short laugh, but it didn’t pass Valkyrie by how his hand tightened a fraction. She decided to be serious for once.

“But you did step in. And even if you didn’t hit, do I need to remind you that you beat Silverheart halfway to death for me?” Skulduggery let out a soft snort and tilted his head slightly to the side to look away. Valkyrie reached up her free hand to gingerly put it on his bony cheek. When he didn’t look at her, she applied pressure to gently but firmly force him to turn his head back.

“You saved me, Skulduggery. And like, you have saved me so many times. Why do I feel like this time is different to you?”

They looked at each other for a long moment, Valkyrie’s eyes full of confusion while Skulduggery’s were, well, pretty empty. Then he sighed deeply and got up from the chair, and while Valkyrie thought he had gotten enough of her, he instead clambered onto the bed and pulled her close against him.

“We have faced more dangers than I can count, and each and every time, at least one of us has been on the brink of death, one more painful than the other. I always see you fighting. And constantly, I find myself wondering why I took you under my wings. This business is highly dangerous, as you have felt first-hand.”

“Yeah, no shit,” Valkyrie said, and although she had a smirk on her face, her heart was hammering a hundred miles an hour. Skulduggery never apologised, and he never admitted when he had done something wrong. What had changed?

“I guess… I feel like I brought danger into your home when you weren’t ready for it. And I know there’s no way to right that wrong. What’s done is done. But what I can do is to show you that from now on, I’ll always have your back. I’ll always be there for you.”

He pulled back slightly to look at her, and if empty eye sockets could portray an emotion, his certainly would.

“It’s always been you, Valkyrie.”

Valkyrie felt like her heart was going to beat out of her chest. Her throat was suddenly all too tight, and it was hard to breathe. Good thing she was already on her side, because she feared she would have keeled over had she been standing up.

So, that was what had changed. Skulduggery was… in love… with her?

“What are you saying?” she whispered, surprised to find her voice so hoarse. Skulduggery sighed.

“Do you really want me to say it?”

“Of course. It would be no fun if I couldn’t tease you about it.”

“So, you admit you’re teasing and thus, that you already know what I’m saying. I rest my case and won’t speak of this ever again.”

“We both know that’s a lie, Skulduggery. You can’t keep your mouth shut for five minutes.”

Even though he was a skeleton and only had a skull for a face, he looked indignant. How was it possible for gleaming bones to show so many emotions and expressions? Valkyrie couldn’t figure it out and wrote it off as more magic.

“Ah, but I said I wouldn’t speak of _this_ ever again.”

Valkyrie laughed and shook her head incredulously.

“You are insufferable, you know that?”

“Why thank you. However, I must ask---”

But before Skulduggery could ask his question, Valkyrie had put a hand on his bony cheek, and it seemed to shut him right up. He went rigid for a second before leaning into the palm of her hand. Valkyrie pressed herself firmer against his stiff body and stroked his cheek gently until he relaxed. Then she touched her lips to his surprisingly warm teeth.

“It’s always been you, Skulduggery.”


End file.
